Seoul (Korea) - Flash memory has been rumored to soon hit the limitations of nature, making it impossible for the technology to scale beyond 32 nm or 22 nm structures. Korean researchers now say they have developed 10 nm semiconductors based on carbon nanotubes that could breathe new life into Flash memory cards.

In research findings published in Nature Nanotechnology, of Choi Hee-cheul and Kim Hyun-tak describe what they call the first semiconductor that has broken the 10 nm barrier. The devices are less than one-sixth the size of semiconductors in mass-produced micro-processors today (65 nm) and measure only one-12,000th the width of a human hair

Key to developing the 10 nm structures were carbon nanotubes, which appear to gain traction in the semiconductor industry. A significant commercial application of carbon nanotubes is scheduled to debut later this year in the form NRAM, a memory technology is based on nanotubes and promises to offer higher performance at a lower power consumption than regular DRAM. Seagate recently indicated that carbon nanotubes could become more important for hard drives with quickly increasing capacities.

The described 10 nm semiconductors also use a new material called "Mott insulator," which, according to Kim, has the ability to instantly transition from the role as a conductor to an insulator.

It is unclear, which capacity carbon-nanotube-supported flash memory could reach, but Choi and Kim believe that flash memory cards one day could store more than 1 billion newspaper pages, translating into a memory capacity of more than 100 GB. Today's mainstream flash memory cards top out at 8 GB.

"As far as we know, we broke a 10-nanometer barrier for the first time in history. We could make the breakthrough after finding unique surface chemical reactions of carbon nanotubes,'' Choi told the Korea Times newspaper. "We hope this carbon nanotube-based technology will help crank out 10-nanometer memory chips. Toward that end, we are currently cooperating with U.S. venture start-ups,'' he said.

U cud fit alot of psp games on that!!!!

well this is a major breakthrough... i wonder how much it would cost...

thats pretty crazy

That is crazy lol, they would cost loads

omg if that does not cost more than 349 i will buy all of psp-spot one. all the admins. lol jp

Well they wont cost alot. You have to put into consideration the various product ranges. If they can do 100GB then its possible to do anything (with-in reason, up to 100gb). So they could make profit from various consumer groups. Then theres the fact that a huge price tag will deter consumers and reduce profit. Initially, i do not believe it will be targeted at the average user, like the users on this site; they will aim it at people who would really need the storage. Over time price falls; like with any product. Sure, there might be a large price tag for the fist few months- but you also have to look at the whole picture 100gb is a huge break through...and if you need it you will pay.

Yeah, as things develop everything gets bigger. This would be intended for people who need this for holding big files and stuff. And no-one will buy this if it costs too much.

its gonna cost a bomb man.

now 4gb costing close to $100

Wow that would be quality but a bit stupid. Think of the price and who really needs that much space? I guess you could fill it up with isos eventually...

wow... why would you need so much... o.O

lol they might like sell it to huge companies who might need it to backup their crap